Best HWs Ever?

ippikiookami

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Just sitting around with nothing to do, so I put together a list off the top of my head. Let me know if you agree or not:

Fedor – longest win streak, beat four UFC champs
Miocic – great resume and really well rounded
Cormier – great resume and two division champ
Crocop – probably the most feared fighter during his prime
Werdum – tapped out two of the best HWs ever
Valasquez – some amazing and gritty wins
Coleman – father of ground and pound, 1st UFC HW champ
Barnett – was ranked a top-10 HW forever
Couture – two division champ that changed the game
Vovchanchyn – opened the door for Russian fighters, amazing highlight reel

Honorable Mentions: Nogueria, Mir, Lesner, Reem

Yes, I know: Silvia isn't on the list. Don't think his reign stands the test of time.
 
How many times did Barnett pop for vitamins?
 
Fedor
Werdum
Stipe
Cain
Overeem

in that order (my personal list)
 
Just sitting around with nothing to do, so I put together a list off the top of my head. Let me know if you agree or not:

Fedor – longest win streak, beat four UFC champs
Miocic – great resume and really well rounded
Cormier – great resume and two division champ
Crocop – probably the most feared fighter during his prime
Werdum – tapped out two of the best HWs ever
Valasquez – some amazing and gritty wins
Coleman – father of ground and pound, 1st UFC HW champ
Barnett – was ranked a top-10 HW forever
Couture – two division champ that changed the game
Vovchanchyn – opened the door for Russian fighters, amazing highlight reel


Honorable Mentions: Nogueria, Mir, Lesner, Reem

Yes, I know: Silvia isn't on the list. Don't think his reign stands the test of time.
And Arlovski? Dos Santos?
 
Reading Nog just as an honorable mention hurt my soul.
Mine too -- if Fedor hadn't been around, Nog would have been THE heavyweight in Pride, and might have had a better run in the UFC (since he wouldn't have taken as much damage from the Fedor fights, which probably took years off his life). Nog would be top 5 if we were ranking these guys as people, or ranking heart and toughness, but I don't think his accomplishments puts him on the list.
 
All depends on how you define GOAT.

Some think dominance in an era weighs heavy, and therefore Nog > Cain. Others view it as a "prime v prime" and Cain > Nog (even though his prime was a short couple of years). Some think DC's, Couture's LHW accomplishments don't count for much in a HW GOAT conversation. others disagree. Some mock Fedor's 3 big losses after 9 years of dominance, many think 9 years of dominance proves GOAT-ed-ness.

Defining then weighing criteria is where the root of the matter lies.
 
1. Fedor

You can have the next how ever you want ranked...

Nog
Werdum
Stipe
Mirko
Cormier

Legends

Couture
Coleman
Igor

Fun to watch
Brock
Mir
Reem
Barnett
Velasquez (brought to my attention I missed him from the OP list)
***think I got each fighter mentioned
 
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Just sitting around with nothing to do, so I put together a list off the top of my head. Let me know if you agree or not:

Fedor – longest win streak, beat four UFC champs
Miocic – great resume and really well rounded
Cormier – great resume and two division champ
Crocop – probably the most feared fighter during his prime
Werdum – tapped out two of the best HWs ever
Valasquez – some amazing and gritty wins
Coleman – father of ground and pound, 1st UFC HW champ
Barnett – was ranked a top-10 HW forever
Couture – two division champ that changed the game
Vovchanchyn – opened the door for Russian fighters, amazing highlight reel


Honorable Mentions: Nogueria, Mir, Lesner, Reem

Yes, I know: Silvia isn't on the list. Don't think his reign stands the test of time.

Who were the 4 UFC champs Fedor beat?

Sorry, I'm not trying to discredit Fedor in this conversation but the 4 champions you speak of is counting Frank Mir in Bellator and Rampage Jackson in Bellator? That's a joke.

Tim Sylvia was also past his prime or in a weird place when he lost to Fedor, not sure if I'd say that was a "prime" form of Sylvia at all, in fact I wouldn't. And the 4th guy is Arlovski? And at the time he was getting knocked out left and right from what I recall, he did have a resurgence after that fight but still...kind of an eh win at the time imo.

It would be far more impressive to list wins over Big Nog x2, and even Coleman x2 + Randleman. I guess Coleman was a HW champion in the UFC technically at one point, so I guess Fedor beat 5 UFC champions. Well rack that to 6 if we count Big Nog's interim title.
 
1. Fedor

You can have the next how ever you want ranked...

Nog
Werdum
Stipe
Mirko
Cormier

Legends

Couture
Coleman
Igor

Fun to watch
Brock
Mir
Reem
Barnett

***think I got each fighter mentioned

You're missing Cain Velasquez, unless you intentionally left him off. I think JDS/Cain both deserve some recognition actually if Frank Mir, Reem, Barnett, Lesnar, and Igor/Coleman/Couture are on the list. Well and Werdum. I think Werdum has some high quality names and won the belt, but is overrated.
 
I understand if TS want to skip Sylvia/Pitbull era...

But JDS? Guy has a win over 3 of the first 6 guys of the list

Agreed. JDS and Cain both aren't the GOATs of HW clearly, but they deserve to be mentioned. They both fell off hard, but shined bright for a short period of time.

I would be willing to say they were better in their prime than Barnett, Werdum, Arlovski, Couture. Coleman, Cro Cop, and probably Overeem, ever were. I don't think that's too wild to say and I believe it's true.

But they also had the benefit of "era" over all of those guys, even multiple generations.
 
Mine too -- if Fedor hadn't been around, Nog would have been THE heavyweight in Pride, and might have had a better run in the UFC (since he wouldn't have taken as much damage from the Fedor fights, which probably took years off his life). Nog would be top 5 if we were ranking these guys as people, or ranking heart and toughness, but I don't think his accomplishments puts him on the list.
You are clearly wrong. Fedor, Nogueira, and Werdum are vastly more accomplished than every other HW in MMA history. JDS and Stipe follow those three.
 
I understand if TS want to skip Sylvia/Pitbull era...

But JDS? Guy has a win over 3 of the first 6 guys of the list
You really can't just glaze over Arlovski imo without at least giving him a shout-out.
 
Who were the 4 UFC champs Fedor beat?

Sorry, I'm not trying to discredit Fedor in this conversation but the 4 champions you speak of is counting Frank Mir in Bellator and Rampage Jackson in Bellator? That's a joke.

Tim Sylvia was also past his prime or in a weird place when he lost to Fedor, not sure if I'd say that was a "prime" form of Sylvia at all, in fact I wouldn't. And the 4th guy is Arlovski? And at the time he was getting knocked out left and right from what I recall, he did have a resurgence after that fight but still...kind of an eh win at the time imo.

It would be far more impressive to list wins over Big Nog x2, and even Coleman x2 + Randleman. I guess Coleman was a HW champion in the UFC technically at one point, so I guess Fedor beat 5 UFC champions. Well rack that to 6 if we count Big Nog's interim title.
No he wasn't getting knocked out left and right, not at the time they fought. The losing spree started after the Fedor fight.
 
Fedor - 12 ranked victories
#1 fighters defeated (1):

Nogueira 1
Top 5 fighters defeated (5):
Nogueira 3
Cro Cop
Arlovski
Sylvia
Herring
Top 10 fighters defeated (6):
Coleman 1
Hunt
Randleman
Schilt
Rogers
Fujita

Nogueira - 13 ranked victories
#1 fighters defeated (1):

Coleman
Top 5 fighters defeated (5):
Cro Cop
Sylvia
Herring 1
Barnett 2
Rodriguez
Top 10 fighters defeated (7):
Couture
Werdum
Herring 2
Kharitonov
Schaub
Schilt
Overeem

Werdum - 10 ranked victories
#1 fighters defeated (2):

Fedor
Velasquez
Top 5 fighters defeated (2):
Hunt
Browne
Top 10 fighters defeated (6):
Overeem
Gonzaga
Nelson
Alexander Emelianenko
Russow
Erikson

JDS - 10 ranked victories
#1 fighters defeated (1):

Velasquez
Top 5 fighters defeated (4):
Lewis
Rothwell
Carwin
Hunt
Top 10 fighters defeated (5):
Miocic
Mir
Nelson
Cro Cop
Werdum

Miocic - 7 ranked victories
#1 fighters defeated (2):

Werdum
Cormier
Top 5 fighters defeated (4):
Hunt
Overeem
JDS
Ngnannou
Top 10 fighters defeated (1):
Arlovski

Happy to help this thread out.
 
Who were the 4 UFC champs Fedor beat?

Sorry, I'm not trying to discredit Fedor in this conversation but the 4 champions you speak of is counting Frank Mir in Bellator and Rampage Jackson in Bellator? That's a joke.

Tim Sylvia was also past his prime or in a weird place when he lost to Fedor, not sure if I'd say that was a "prime" form of Sylvia at all, in fact I wouldn't. And the 4th guy is Arlovski? And at the time he was getting knocked out left and right from what I recall, he did have a resurgence after that fight but still...kind of an eh win at the time imo.

It would be far more impressive to list wins over Big Nog x2, and even Coleman x2 + Randleman. I guess Coleman was a HW champion in the UFC technically at one point, so I guess Fedor beat 5 UFC champions. Well rack that to 6 if we count Big Nog's interim title.

Sylvia and Arlovski were legit wins.
- Sylvia was 23-4. He had lost his title 3 fights prior to Couture (Decision) and an interim title fight to Nog (Fight where Nog was getting whooped)
- Alrovski was on a 5 fight winning streak where he beat Rothwell (KO), Nelson (KO) and Werdum (Decision)

Anyone counting the Mir and Rampage wins as being legit are just silly. Fedor's been out of his prime for a decade now. The only legit fighter he's been matched up with was Bader and he got KO'd in less then a minute,

Fighters shouldn't be judged for the tail half of there careers. Combat sports are unique because you're able to complete well past your prime unlike other spots. It's rare to see guys go out on top.
 
Who were the 4 UFC champs Fedor beat?

Sorry, I'm not trying to discredit Fedor in this conversation but the 4 champions you speak of is counting Frank Mir in Bellator and Rampage Jackson in Bellator? That's a joke.

Tim Sylvia was also past his prime or in a weird place when he lost to Fedor, not sure if I'd say that was a "prime" form of Sylvia at all, in fact I wouldn't. And the 4th guy is Arlovski? And at the time he was getting knocked out left and right from what I recall, he did have a resurgence after that fight but still...kind of an eh win at the time imo.

It would be far more impressive to list wins over Big Nog x2, and even Coleman x2 + Randleman. I guess Coleman was a HW champion in the UFC technically at one point, so I guess Fedor beat 5 UFC champions. Well rack that to 6 if we count Big Nog's interim title.

4 Champs not including Rampage or Mir would be Sylvia, Arlovski, Coleman and Randleman.

I think you're memory might be a little shoddy here.

Fedor fought Sylvia coming off a title shot against Nog where he beat the hell out of Nog for 2.5 rounds until Nog pulled out a hail mary sub. Sylvia was only 3 fights removed from being UFC Champ, I'd argue that physically Fedor had slowed down more than Sylvia had.
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Arlovski in the run up to the Fedor fight was in by far the best form of his career, his boxing was sharp from training with Freddie Roach and he was lighting fast for a HW, his streak at the time was 5 wins and was career best form including beat Werdum and KOing Nelson and Rothwell and he was pretty unanimously ranked as the #2 HW behind Fedor.

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Stipe has the best wins.
Fedor had the longest streak.
Ngannou and CroCop most feared.

You could make an argument for any of these tbh, maybe not Ngannou but he is shaping up to potentially be one in the future.

IMHO, it’s Miocic. beat Reem, JDS, Francis, Werdum and a comeback against Cormier. All in spectacular fashion!
 
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